The Give and the Take
by purple.bookworm.girl
Summary: Nine little 'snippet' stories  or more-than-snippets  based on songs that remind me of Booth and Brennan. Some fluff, some flangst, angst, romance, friendship, and humor involved!


_**A/N: I am still working on Echoes in the Early Morning, I promise! I'm about a quarter's-way done with the next chapter, haha. But I was reading some of Natty's (nattylovesjordy, go read her, she's amazing) stories and she has one that's sort of an iPod shuffle challenge. So I was going to do that, but then I changed my mind and decided to just go pick songs that really speak B&B to me. This is a compilation of some of those...and some of these little snippets I really like, but some turned into more-than-snippets and there are some I really don't like. The first four have season timelines, the others are AU-ish. And the one with the German song, the lyrics are in English just after the story.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of the songs used in this story.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Falling In<strong>_** – Lifehouse**

_I would never do you wrong_

_Nor let you down or lead you on_

_Don't look down, it's only love_

_That we're falling in_

_**Sometime during Season 5**_

His hands are shaking. He's never been this nervous before, not with any woman. And this isn't really even a date, it's just a conference. They're done this before. But not since his surgery, not since the amnesia.

She walks around the corner and he turns and his jaw drops. She is beautiful – she always is – but there's something more. She's almost _glowing._ Coming to stand next to him, a frown mars her beautiful face as she asks, "Are you all right?"

He nods, mutely, before managing to blurt out, "You look beautiful, Bones." She looks at him, confused.

"I know," she answers, and he shakes his head.

"No, like not how you know your features are appealing and you're wearing a pretty dress and men like to look at you. I mean…you look really…really…nice. To me. Just to me." He stops, the look on her face still confused, and shakes his head again.

"Never mind. Let's just go." She takes his arm and they begin to walk, but suddenly she stops. He jerk to a halt and looks at her, his heart nearly melting at her beaming smile.

"Thank you, Booth," she says, and lays her head on his shoulder for a brief second before setting off again. He takes a second to catch up, and his shoulder still feels warm.

_Don't be scared_

_It's only love_

_That we're falling in_

_**Science & Faith – **_**the Script**

_Tried to break love to a science_

_In an act of pure defiance_

_I broke her heart_

_As I pulled apart her theories_

_**Early Season 6**_

She sits in her office, staring at the computer screen, willing herself not to cry. She doesn't know why she's so emotional these days – Temperance Brennan does not do irrational emotions. A knock at the door causes her to look up.

"Hey, Bones, come on," comes the most familiar voice. "Let's do something, just us." She doesn't say anything, just looks at him for a second.

"Are you all right?" he asks. She nods, too quickly, but he doesn't notice.

"I'm busy," she finally says. "Why don't you go do something with Hannah?"

She purposely focuses on the computer screen so she doesn't have to see his face light up at the name.

"All right, Bones, if that's what you want. I'll see you at work on Monday." He walks away from her office, a bounce in his step, and her head falls forward onto her chest. A single tear slides down her cheek, and she hurriedly brushes it away. Eyes back to the computer screen, she begins typing furiously. She'll get this done tonight, she knows, because going back home will have less distractions and more memories. And she'll always take science over feelings.

_You won't find faith or hope down a telescope_

_You won't find heart and soul in the stars_

_You can break everything down to chemicals_

_But you can't explain a love like ours_

_**Fix You – **_**Coldplay**

_And high up above or down below_

_When you're too in love to let it go_

_But if you never try you'll never know_

_Just what you're worth_

_Lights will guide you home_

_And ignite your bones_

_And I will try to fix you_

_**Season 6 – after Hannah leaves**_

Booth remembers the night he asked her to take a gamble on them. _How stupid,_ he thinks, _she's no gambler, we all know that._

But he wanted her to take that gamble. Oh, so much.

Brennan remembers the night she told him she was getting the signals from the universe. _How stupid, _she thinks, _he was with someone else, someone he loved, and I'd already agreed to let him move on._

But he said thirty, or forty, or fifty years. How could seven months change that?

And Hannah is gone. They are going back to normal. He brought Thai food last night, they ate, and laughed, and talked, and it felt right. But they are both scared, and scarred, and neither wants to make that first move.

But Booth suddenly wants to ask her to gamble again. He knows what she'll say, so he'll have to phrase it right, but he wants to tell her those three little words that he's tried so many times to say and never gotten through. And even though he's scared, and scarred, he wants to show her that love is real, that he will always be there.

He wants to bring her home.

_**Beautiful History**_** – Plumb**

_Things were crashing loudly_

_Happening all around me_

_But your still small voice_

_Was all that I could hear_

_**Season 6 – The Change in the Game**_

We've all made mistakes, she knows this. No one lives a perfect life, no matter how hard they've tried. But she's so scared that she's made the worst mistake she could, letting herself go like that, with him, and now they've got this consequence and she doesn't know what he's going to make of it.

Then he smiles and his face lights up and she knows. She knows it'll all be okay…so she smiles back. He's given her this ray of hope…she can make it, with him by her side. And yeah, she knows she's never truly believed in love before him, but he has made her strong. Not impervious. And she believes, now, like he does, that love is transcendent and eternal.

"We're having a baby, Bones!" he says, giddy like a schoolboy. He sweeps her into his arms, embraces her, and she lets him. She hugs back, buries her head in his chest. She's safe here, and so is the baby. _Their_ baby. Who is not just a consequence – the baby is _theirs._

_I am here, I'm holding you_

_You'll make it through this_

_I am here, I am here_

_**She Will Be Loved – **_**Maroon 5**

_It's not always rainbows and butterflies_

_It's compromise that moves us along, yeah_

_My heart is full and my door's always open_

_You can come any time you want_

He throws his hands in the air and spins around to face Angela. "Help?" he asks desperately.

The woman shakes her head. "Can't help you there. When she gets an idea in her head, she does it…you know that, better than anyone. But if anyone can talk her out of it, it's you." He groans, knowing she's right, and rushes down the steps of the forensics platform after his wayward partner. He catches her as she's hurrying back out of her office, and they nearly crash into one another. Instead he grabs her arm gently and slows her to a stop. She looks askance at him, eyes asking all her questions.

"Bones, let's think this through," he says. She glares, head shaking.

"I'm not going to change my mind! I know what it's like to be in the system, the way the parents treat you, all of it. I need to help them." She tries to jerk her arm away, but he holds tight.

"I know, Bones. But that's why we need to think about it. You can do more if you calm down and – dare I say it – approach this logically."

This stops her dead. She looks at him in silence, waiting for him to continue. He stumbles over his words, not sure where he's going with this.

"If you take some time to plan something out, it'll be that much more effective in the long run," he says slowly. She begins to nod along as he speaks, agreeing with his completely on-the-spot speech.

"Fine," she answers. "I'll wait if that's what you want. But I want to do something, I want to help the girls who are like I was." He nods.

"Oh, Bones, I know."

_I don't mind spending every day_

_Out on your corner in the pouring rain_

_Look for the girl with the broken smile_

_Ask her if she wants to stay awhile_

_And she will be loved_

_**Open Your Eyes – **_**Snow Patrol**

_Take my hand_

_Knot your fingers through mine_

_And we'll walk from this dark room_

_For the last time_

_Every minute from this minute now_

_We can do what we like anywhere_

_I want so much to open your eyes_

_Because I need you to look into mine_

She clutches his hand so tightly and silent tears stream down her face, and he wants to cry right along with her. _No one_ hurts his Bones. He wraps his arms around her, she buries her face in his shoulder, and he has not felt this in so long. His heart reaches out to her, and he speaks nonsensical soothing things, rubs her back gently.

Max is gone. Again. But for real this time. He cannot believe that they are the ones who found the body, who identified the man who had hurt her so many times before but was finally trying to make right.

How long they sit like this, he doesn't know, but finally she falls asleep – falls asleep in his arms. He is torn by how _right_ this feels and how _wrong_ the reason and timing are. But he is exhausted, too, and finally he just plants a gentle kiss in her hair and falls asleep himself.

She wakes up a few hours later, and she does not want to move. For a moment everything is peaceful, and she is comfortable because she knows it's Booth's arms she's curled in, but then everything comes hurtling back and the peace comes to a screeching halt and a tear wends its way down her cheek all over again.

And suddenly he's awake, and speaking his nonsense again, and she can't even believe it because it makes no sense that he would know exactly when she needed him. But obviously he did.

"Hey, Bones, open your eyes," he says softly. She does, because it's him, and right now she would do anything for him.

"It'll be all right," he tells her, earnestly. "Everything."

_**Drops of Jupiter**_** – Train**

_Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet_

_Did you finally the chance _

_To dance along the light of day_

_And head back to the Milky Way_

He hasn't seen her in three months, and he's not used to that anymore, and he literally cannot wait to get back to the Jeffersonian and see her after all this time. A grin spreads across his face as he pulls into his old parking spot, and he walks past her spot (which is still empty, he wanted to get here before her and get to her office) and his grin widens even more.

He sits in her chair – not on the couch – and puts his feet up on her desk. He wears a tie and socks she gave him, knows she'll remember and hopes she comments. The lights are off and he wants it that way, he wants her to assume no one is there.

From her own office Angela watches Booth settle in. A grin lights her own face as Hodgins comes to stand behind her – they can't wait to see Brennan either, but for Booth Angela is especially excited.

The doctor walks in to the lab and is immediately accosted by Dr. Saroyan. A hug results, one less awkward than it would have been just not so long ago. Angela and Hodgins leave the office next, greeting her enthusiastically, but she looks around behind them all in slight confusion.

"Where's Booth?" she asks. Angela shakes her head.

"Haven't seen him," is all she gives. If anyone else talks or if she says more they'll give it away, so they just let Brennan head towards her office to drop off her things.

She flicks the light on, steps into the office, and her jaw drops. "Booth!" she almost gasps.

He jumps up and wraps her in a tight embrace. "Hey, Bones," he says.

She speaks into his shoulder, voice muffled. "I missed you."

Even though he didn't think it possible, his smile widens. "I missed you too, Bones. How was…um…Mysanine?"

She laughs. "Mycenae, Booth. Mycenae. It was…good. We found some artifacts I wasn't expecting, so that was interesting, anthropologically speaking." She doesn't elaborate, which he was not expecting.

"What? You aren't going to tell me all about everything you found and how it relates in this to humanity as a whole because of what it meant to this one Grecian family?" He's rewarded with another laugh.

"I'm just glad to be back."

_Now that she's back in the atmosphere_

_With drops of Jupiter in her hair_

_She acts like summer and walks like rain_

_Reminds me that there's a time to change_

_**Supergirl – **_**Reamonn**

_And then she'd say, it's all right_

_I got home late last night_

_But I'm a supergirl_

_And supergirls just fly_

She's at the lab, of course. She's always at the lab. He heads over, driving through the rain, for some reason needing to know she's really at the lab.

He heads inside, card poised to swipe at the platform, but Cam is the only one there and Bones' office light is off and now he's annoyed. He heads back outside and calls her cell phone, but she doesn't pick up.

He heads to her apartment, but there is no answer to his knock, and now he's just plain pissed off. The diner is closed, she isn't at the bar, and now he's worried as well. Finally he decides to try the Reflecting Pool, even though it's pouring rain, because it's Bones and when has she ever done the conventional thing?

He knows he's got it right before he's even there. A dark shape stands next to the dark pool, a familiar silhouette even encased in a raincoat.

"Bones!" he yells out, sloshing through puddles as he makes his way towards her. "What on earth are you doing here?"

She doesn't answer for a second, just glares at him, and then only says, "How did you find me here?"

"I know you, Bones. I couldn't find you anyplace else. But it's pouring down rain, come on, let's get you home." He reaches for her, expecting her to come – but she backs away. Stunned, he drops his arm back to his side.

"I don't need you, Booth," she says. Shakes her head. Confused, he doesn't move.

"I know that, Bones," he says. "But I found you out here all alone in this crappy weather and I want to get you home and safe."

She walks away. He is shocked, doesn't move fast enough. She's gone, and she didn't want him to find her, and he really has no idea what to do.

_You can see in her eyes_

_That no one is her chain_

_She's my girl_

_My supergirl_

_**Irgendwas Bleibt – **_**Silbermond**

_Gib mir ein kleines bisschen Sicherheit_

_In einer Welt in der nichts sicher scheint_

_Gib mir in dieser schnellen Zeit_

_Irgendwas das bleibt_

She is hiding in her office. She yelled at Angela and Hodgins today, so the others are avoiding her – it feels nice to be alone, but she feels surprisingly remorseful at what she said to them. Her book is open on the screen, she has been trying to type, but no ideas are coming and now she's angry because remorse is not something Temperance Brennan does often and she is stressed and that's why she got so angry and she has no concept of how to fix this.

The door opens and shuts, and she looks up into Booth's concerned face.

"I'm fine, Booth," she tells him, focusing on the computer screen. He rolls his eyes.

"Oh, so that's why you called Angela a…a…" he stops, unable to remember the word.

"I'd rather not repeat it," she snaps. He holds up his hands in front of his chest: a defensive position, she knows, and now she feels even worse.

"Whoa, Bones," he goes around behind her desk, "what's wrong?"

Why does he have to know her so well? She glares at the screen. "Nothing."

He leans over, body blocking the screen, forcing her to look at him. "That's not nothing. Something's bothering you."

Now it's her turn to roll her eyes. But she answers anyways, knows he won't go away until he gets what he's looking for.

"Sweets was talking about some of the issues foster kids have again…I'm just angry with myself for letting so much of the shame and fear of the past color my present." She pointedly looks away, avoiding his penetrating gaze.

"Oh, Bones," he says slowly, "you are so much more than that. You've got us, and we're not going to get rid of you anytime soon."

Another eye roll. "I know that. That's why it's a stupid reason to be so angry." He shakes his head, puts his hands on her shoulders.

"It's not, Bones. It's not."

_Give me a little bit of safety_

_In a world where nothing is safe_

_Give me in this fast time_

_Something that remains_


End file.
